New Sewing Project

Dear Liza,

The original Pencil Roll, now a little smudged

This week, Auntie Bridgett asked me to make her a new pen holder. I made the first one about seven years ago, from a pattern I found in an old Quilting magazine. I have lost the magazine and even altered the pattern, but I am eternally grateful to whoever invented this little marvel.

Auntie Bridgett’s drawing and my directions

It started out as a “crayon caddy”, a way for little kids to carry their most basic art supplies. I made some for nieces and grandkids, and sold some at Auntie Bridgett’s Cartoonery and at street fairs in Salinas.

It is simple, sturdy, and pretty. But nothing lasts forever, and things can always be improved on.

The crayon caddy, as it was, had one flaw. Pencils and pens tended to slip out of the top, like hot dogs slipping away from their buns. Auntie Bridgett hunted on line and found the Japanese Roll Pencil Case from B’etha Bags, which had a flap to fold over and contain the slippery pencils. Using their photos for reference, Auntie Bridgett drew me up a design and I made a pattern to sew from.

We used some of the fabrics we picked up long ago, and it worked out well. Now she has the old one for colored pencils, and the newer one for her fancy fountain pens, which she loves very much and wants to protect.